Importance of Inculcating Creativity in Children

Creativity is defined as an act of transforming children's imagination and ideas into reality. It is difficult to define creativity in the early years, however, it depends on the child's ability to be creative. It helps in child's motor skill, social interactions, and even their problem-solving skills. Every invention we are thankful for today was someone's creativity. A child plays with his/her toys, his/her whale world shapeshifts to another dimension in their imagination. Creativity is important in the early years of development of the child.

HOW IT CAN HELP CHILDREN TO LEARN AND GROW

• PROMOTE SOCIAL INTERACTIONS AND EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT:
Imagining themselves in others' shoes promotes social and emotional development in children. They learn to be more empathetic and cooperative to others, while also being confident of who they are. Pretend play and crafts also help children test
boundaries by helping them imagine and experiment.

• AIDS CREATIVE AND COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT:
Being creative helps children build the foundation for life skills which they will acquire later on in life.

• HELPS IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF MOTOR SKILLS:
Art and craft, pretend play, or simply playing outdoors prove to be fine motor activities for children. Whether your children are dancing to their beat or jumping over bushes outdoors, it improves her hand-eye coordination and muscle memory.

• BUILDS COMMUNICATION SKILLS: Creative play allows children to act out scenes from books, movies, or even from interaction with peers. This builds communication skills as they try to experiment with language and conversations with peers.

• DEVELOPS CRITICAL THINKING AND PROBLEM-SOLVING SKILLS:
As children play, they imagine the world without its physical limits. This promotes critical thinking in the early years and develops problem-solving skills, thus helping them come up with new possibilities and solutions.

HOW TO INCULCATE CREATIVITY IN CHILDREN

• MAKE CHILDREN QUESTION THINGS:
One of the main ways of developing creative thinking in children is to urge them to wonder. Ask them questions like why is the sky blue? Why does the ocean water have waves and not the water in lakes or ponds? How does gravity work? And so on. Explaining such things to them would problem-solving abilities.

• PROVIDE OPPORTUNITIES TO EXPRESS THEIR INTELLIGENCE:
Another important thing to remember is that even though there are different types of intelligence, they can be developed over time even if the child isn’t necessarily exhibiting the characteristics. Sometimes it is difficult to recognize their natural inclination towards a certain form of intelligence. In that case, give them ample opportunities to express all the forms of intelligence and pick up on what they do best.

• ENCOURAGE CHILDREN TO READ THEIR PLEASURE:
Limit TV or other screen time of children to make room for creative hobbies like reading as it encourages thought activity which in turn promotes creativity. Reading can help children understand and express themselves better, develop their logical thinking, and help them to focus on learning new things.

• GIVE THEM FREE TIME & SPACE:
Building skills in a methodical way is important. But it is important to give the child enough space to freely explore their imaginations. Let them spend a few idle hours at home without any scheduled activities so that the child can just aimlessly roam around and run their imagination wild in whatever they are doing.

• AVOID REWARDING CHILDREN FOR EXHIBITING CREATIVITY:
Offering incentives to children to perform any creative activity can hinder the process, resulting in reducing the quality and flexibility of their thoughts. So, allow children to master the creative activities that they are innately motivated to do, rather than motivating them with rewards and incentives for the same.

CONCLUSION: Creativity plays a vital role in the early years of life. Children need to be involved in making their creativity and respect the art of others. Creativity develops a positive attitude among children towards their learning.

By: Hrutvi Verma
Jammu Sanskriti School